The Construction Insiders Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

Why are so many return-to-office mandates falling flat, and what does it actually take to make modern workplace conversions work? In Part 2 of our workplace series, the team breaks down why free pizza won't bring employees back, the structural pitfalls of adaptive reuse, and why early construction engagement is the ultimate risk mitigator.

Summary & Key Takeaways:

 In this episode of The Construction Insiders, Jessica Busch is joined by David West and Greg Williams to unpack the evolving realities of corporate real estate. From navigating hybrid equity between corporate and field workers to balancing CapEx with sustainability targets, discover how industry leaders are rethinking workplace environments before breaking ground.

Key Topics Covered:

• The Return-to-Office Reality: Why leadership presence matters more than perks, and how to balance equity across diverse workforces.
• Early Stakeholder Management: Why waiting until design sign-off to bring in construction leads to costly surprises.
• Construction Tech & Reality Capture: How tools like OpenSpace, Matterport, and PMIS are replacing outdated OAC reporting.
• The Traps of Adaptive Reuse: What happens when an office shell can’t support R&D, labs, or rooftop mechanical equipment.
• Practical Sustainability: Moving past buzzwords to evaluate real CapEx ROI and decarbonization goals.

Connect with us and explore more industry insights: cumming-group.com

Send us Fan Mail

Return-to-office may dominate the headlines, but the biggest changes in corporate office are happening behind the walls.

In Part 1 of this two-part episode of The Construction Insiders Podcast, host Jessica Busch sits down with Greg Williams of Cumming Group and David West of Seneca Group to explore why office renovation projects are becoming more complex and costly than many owners anticipate.

The conversation examines the shift from office expansion to workplace optimization, the continued flight to quality, and the growing use of tenant improvements and adaptive reuse to support changing business needs. Greg and David explain why converting traditional office space into R&D, testing, or higher-intensity environments often requires significant upgrades to power, HVAC, data infrastructure, and building systems.

They also discuss one of the industry's toughest project scenarios: renovating occupied workplaces while maintaining employee productivity and business operations.

Topics include:

• Office renovation and office remodeling trends
• Commercial office renovation challenges
• Tenant improvements and workplace strategy
• Adaptive reuse of corporate office space
• Flight to quality in commercial real estate
• Occupied renovation projects
• Infrastructure, code, and MEP considerations

Send us Fan Mail

Most healthcare leaders walk into a master planning process expecting a blueprint. What they're missing is a baseline, and it's costing them before construction ever begins. Jessica Busch sits down with Bill Foulkes, Executive Vice President at Cumming Group, and Judd Orlando, Executive Director of Facility Planning and Infrastructure at City of Hope, to unpack what facilities master planning actually is and why so many organizations get it wrong. Bill and Judd break down why volume-based planning beats design-based thinking, what a real asset baseline reveals that leaders don't want to see, and how to make infrastructure risk land with a C-suite that didn't come up through facilities. This episode reframes master planning as a living framework, not a binder on a shelf.

Send us Fan Mail

In part two of this healthcare facilities master planning conversation, the hard reality sets in: even the best master plan fails if stakeholders aren't aligned on what it's supposed to solve. Jessica Busch returns with Bill Foulkes and Judd Orlando to tackle the three-layered framework that actually works, the assumption misalignments that derail projects before ground breaks, and why your master plan might be dead on arrival if you're not sequencing your consulting partners strategically. They'll walk through common failure modes. Grandiose visions that blow past the capital envelope, physician-level engagement gone wrong, and how to translate infrastructure risk into C-suite language. With healthcare margins tightening and capital budgets shrinking, the conversation turns to redevelopment over iconic buildings, the looming uncertainty of AI's impact on facility needs, and the single most important step to get right if you're starting this journey. 

Send us Fan Mail

Most healthcare leaders walk into a master planning process expecting a blueprint. What they're missing is a baseline, and it's costing them before construction ever begins. Jessica Busch sits down with Bill Foulkes, Executive Vice President at Cumming Group, and Judd Orlando, Executive Director of Facility Planning and Infrastructure at City of Hope, to unpack what facilities master planning actually is and why so many organizations get it wrong. Bill and Judd break down why volume-based planning beats design-based thinking, what a real asset baseline reveals that leaders don't want to see, and how to make infrastructure risk land with a C-suite that didn't come up through facilities. This episode reframes master planning as a living framework, not a binder on a shelf.

Send us Fan Mail

In Part Two of our discussion on the Studio Museum in Harlem, we move from vision to execution and explore the realities of delivering a complex cultural institution on one of New York City’s busiest corridors. Jessica Busch is joined again by Andy Bast, Jaylen Henderson, and Lakya Roberts to unpack the logistical, structural, and sequencing challenges of building on 125th Street, including overnight construction windows, zero on‑site storage, façade installation staged like a nightly puzzle, and underpinning next to occupied and landmarked buildings. The conversation examines how full‑scale mock‑ups reduced risk and cost, how teams navigated unforeseen conditions with neighboring structures, and what it takes to maintain safety, quality, and momentum through COVID disruptions. This episode also highlights the project’s commitment to MWBE and Black‑owned business participation and reflects on the deeper personal and community pride that comes from delivering a public institution built not just for a neighborhood, but with it.

Send us Fan Mail

In Part One of our discussion on the Studio Museum in Harlem, we explore how vision, community trust, and funding complexity come together to build a cultural institution that defines a neighborhood. Jessica Busch is joined by Andy Bast, Jaylen Henderson, and Lakya Roberts to examine why 125th Street was the only location that made sense, how Thelma Golden's 12-year leadership carried an entire project through approvals and construction, and what it takes to design for public access and community gathering in the heart of Harlem. The conversation reveals how early community engagement transformed potential construction tensions into shared investment, how funding from city, state, private foundations, and tax credits had to be carefully orchestrated month by month, and why the details of design—like the reverse stoop—matter as much as the vision itself. This episode offers owners, project managers, and architects a practical look at how clarity of purpose, community accountability, and intentional design are essential to delivering public projects that actually serve the neighborhoods they're built in.

Send us Fan Mail

In Part Two of our discussion on advanced technology construction, we turn our focus to the infrastructure powering the digital economy, including data centers and semiconductor facilities. Jessica Busch is joined by Tom Vanelli and Jeff Leeper to explore how speed to market, site selection, power availability, and global supply chain considerations are reshaping how these highly complex projects are delivered. The conversation examines regional and global cost differences, offsite manufacturing and integrator models, evolving cooling and power requirements driven by AI workloads, and the growing role of automation and robotics. This episode offers owners and project leaders a practical look at how collaboration, early decision‑making, and workforce development are becoming critical to delivering these projects safely, efficiently, and at scale.

Send us Fan Mail

In Part One of our series on advanced technology construction, we examine the rapid expansion of data centers and semiconductor facilities and what it takes to deliver the infrastructure powering the digital economy. Jessica Busch is joined by Jeff Leeper and Tom Vanelli to discuss the demand driven by AI, cloud computing, and onshoring, and why these projects introduce new levels of complexity for owners and project teams. The conversation explores how data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, power, and infrastructure are tightly connected, creating challenges around site selection, labor, safety, and schedule. The group also outlines how owners are responding to power constraints through early planning and emerging solutions such as renewables, nuclear restarts, and bring your own power strategies. This episode provides a practical perspective on the decisions shaping advanced technology construction today and sets the foundation for a deeper discussion in Part Two.

Send us Fan Mail

In Part Two of our series on AI in construction, we examine where technology is delivering measurable value on major capital projects and what owners should expect as adoption accelerates. Jessica Busch is joined again by Chris Thompson, Kris Lengieza, and Dareen Salama to discuss the difference between simply purchasing tools and truly enabling teams to use them well. The conversation explores time savings, improved cash flow, and the role of strong data governance, along with the growing need for education, standardization, and clear operating procedures. The group also outlines how owners and contractors are structuring their technology ecosystems, why data relationships matter, and how these shifts will influence the next phase of industry transformation. This episode offers a grounded view of the gaps still ahead and the opportunities for organizations ready to rethink how they deliver projects.